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Terrariums Life in a Bottle (InsideOutside June, 2004)

It might make you do a double take but these gardens in a bottle are for real ! Radhika Anand, who says she has inherited her green thumb from her father, first saw terrariums in Tokyo. When she returned home, she tried all kinds of combinations and per mutations to make plants grow in a bottle.

Though it might sound simple, bottle gardens are really about creating an eco-system in which plants can thrive. The plant is seeded in a well-drained, sterilised soil bed in a bottle or jar. It actually grows within the glass container and then has to be pinched to keep it to the required size. Once the eco-system, which consists of creating a water cycle within the jar, is settled, the plant needs very little maintenance, just an occasional spray of water when the soil begins to look dry. The natural process of evaporation and condensation is put to fascinating use.

In a span of twenty-four hours one notices the glass misting, till the vapour falls back onto the soil to hydrate it again.

It tooks Radhika seven years of research, trial and error to understand the nitty - gritty of making plants grow in this somewhat contrived environment. She has finally got it right and now makes terrariums in bottles, jars, coffee tables and even dining tables!

Legends has it that, centuries ago, even as far back as the fifth century BC, shippies sailing home tried to bring the new and exotic plants they had seen in distant countries, back home with them. The long journeys invariably snuffed the life out of the plants, until once when someone accidentally inverted a bell jar on one such plant- it survived !

Radhika, who spent years researching terrariums, in libraries and on the Internet, found that most of the literature available relates to colder climates. So she has now set up a little informal lab at home where she experiments with providing specialised habitats to plants belonging to different climates. On a recent trip to Kerala she came back with orchid and clove plants and is encouraging them to grow on her fifth floor balcony. Radhika advises that bottles should not be covered with materials like bamboo and cork, as these absorb water, causing the soil inside to dry up.

Radhika has created a number of bottle gardens for hotels in the Middle East.

502, Royale Retreat, Charmwood Village, Eros Gardens, Suraj Kund, Haryana, Tel: 91-11-41638091-95, Mobile: 9811073996
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